Detectives Charge 16-Year-Old With Two Rapes and Robberies

By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM

Published: April 20, 2002

Manhattan detectives have arrested a 16-year-old and charged him with two rapes and robberies, and officials said yesterday that he was a suspect in as many as nine other robberies, most of them on the Upper West Side.

Investigators believe the youth, Calvin Benjamin of 110 West 144th Street, would follow most of his victims to their homes from subway stations at West 72nd Street and Broadway; West 72nd Street and Central Park West; West 96th Street and Broadway; and West 96th Street and Central Park West.

He was charged yesterday in two rapes, one which took place Feb. 20, 2001 on West 95th Street, and another that occurred six months later on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side. The latter crime was the only one he has been charged with that did not occur between West 73rd and West 95th Streets, the police said. He was also charged with robbery in both incidents, the police said.

In the Lower East Side case, a 36-year-old woman was assaulted by two attackers, according to the police.

Lt. Chris Stahly, commanding officer of the Manhattan Special Victims Squad, which investigates sex crimes, said victims in two of the robberies had identified Mr. Benjamin in those crimes, although he has not yet been charged with those offenses.

Lieutenant Stahly added that his detectives, and those from the Manhattan Robbery Squad, which also worked on the case, would be bringing in other robbery victims to view lineups, and that he expected Mr. Benjamin to be charged in additional cases.

Mr. Benjamin, who according to a police description wore diamond stud earrings in both ears, was in custody awaiting arraignment last night; his lawyer could not be reached.